Market Information SOUTHEAST ASIA 2019 About This Guide This market guide includes a snapshot of the economies in Southeast Asia, along with information about travel from this region (booking channels, consumer trends, U.S. international inbound visitation data, and key travel motivators and indicators). Cover photo: Singapore Brand USA ...................................................................................................... 4 Who We Are ................................................................................................................................4 A Message from Christopher L. Thompson .................................................................6 Brand USA Executive & Senior Leadership.................................................................. 8 Market Facts .................................................................................................. 9 Geography ...................................................................................................................................9 Climate ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Demographics ...........................................................................................................................12 Economy ......................................................................................................................................12 Vacation Allocation .................................................................................................................14 Travel Trends ................................................................................................16 International Travel Trends ..................................................................................................16 Inbound Travel Trends ...........................................................................................................17 Traveler Characteristics .........................................................................................................18 Air Travel Information ................................................................................ 21 Market Snapshot ......................................................................................... 24 Visa Waiver Taiwan ................................................................................................................24 Brand USA Resources ............................................................................... 27 Online Channels .......................................................................................................................27 Highlights of Success ...........................................................................................................30 Brand USA Markets ................................................................................................................32 Brand USA Partnerships ...........................................................................34 About the U.S. Department of Commerce ................................................................ 34 Brand USA Who We Are Our Mission As the destination marketing organization for the United States, Brand USA’s mission is to increase incremental international visitation, spend, and market share to fuel the nation’s economy and enhance the image of the USA worldwide. Established by the Travel Promotion Act of 2009 as the nation’s first public-private partnership to spearhead a globally coordinated marketing effort to promote the United States as a premier travel destination and to communicate U.S. visa and entry policies, Brand USA began operations in May 2011. Building on Success As one of the best levers for driving economic growth, international travel to the United States currently supports 1.8 million American jobs (directly and indirectly) and benefits virtually every sector of the U.S. economy. Since its founding, Brand USA has worked in close partnership with more than 900 partner organizations to invite the world to explore the exceptional, diverse, and virtually limitless travel experiences and destinations available in the United States of America. Photos: Taipei, Taiwan (left); Hong Kong Harbor (right) 4 SOUTHEAST ASIA Our Partnerships According to studies by Oxford Brand USA’s operations are Economics, over the past six supported by a combination of years Brand USA’s marketing non-federal contributions from initiatives have helped welcome destinations, travel brands, and nearly 7 million incremental visitors to the USA, benefiting private-sector organizations plus the U.S. economy with $47.7 matching funds collected by the billion in total economic impact U.S. government from international and supporting nearly 52,000 incremental jobs each year. visitors who visit the United States under the Visa Waiver Program. Learn More For industry or partner information about Brand USA, please visit TheBrandUSA.com. For information about exceptional and unexpected travel experiences in the United States, please visit Brand USA’s consumer website at VisitTheUSA.com. Brand USA Headquarters Phone: +1 202.536.2060 1725 Eye Street NW Email: [email protected] Eighth Floor Washington, DC 20006 USA MARKET INFORMATION 2019 5 A Message from Christopher L. Thompson The team at Brand USA, the public-private partnership established to promote international tourism to the USA, looks forward to working with you to generate business in Southeast Asia’s outbound-travel sector. This guide will familiarize you with the factors that make this dynamic market and its vibrant cultures so appealing. Southeast Asia continues to be an expanding source-market for travel to the United States. The region which encompasses Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam has a population of more than 560 million and is a relatively untapped market for travel. A major transportation hub for this part of the world is Singapore’s Changi Airport. The Changi airport served more than 65.6 million global passengers in 2018 and ranks as the sixth busiest international airport in the world. It has 100 airlines that offer service to 400 cities globally, which translates into 7,400 flights a week. Changi was named the “world’s best airport” for the sixth consecutive year at the 2018 Skytrax World Airport Awards. Brand USA launched a comprehensive storytelling strategy to create relevant, engaging, and authentic content, which presents the diversity of travel possibilities across the United States. This approach provides travelers from Southeast Asia the opportunity to see the unique aspects of the United States and further encourages them to visit the USA. Our initiatives include: • Showcasing destinations through our expanded travel-entertainment TV channel, GoUSA TV, which is available around the globe on Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV, and coming soon to Google Chromecast. The channel offers an assortment of travel experiences across four different categories: the great outdoors, road trips, food and drink, and culture and events. Programming on GoUSA TV will expand to feature additional themes and formats, including series, films, videos, and live videos. 6 SOUTHEAST ASIA • In 2018, we premiered our giant-screen film,America’s Musical Journey, which shares the unique styles of American music, our cultural heritage and the stories associated with iconic locations across the U.S. landscape. Our first giant- screen production,National Parks Adventure, also is available to viewers through streaming services that offer video-on-demand. • Our newest campaign, United Stories, features a mobile content creation lab traveling across the United States and capturing warm and welcoming stories told from local perspectives. A variety of accomplished content creators, storytellers, and influencers will bring international travelers on a journey through memorable narratives that reveal the warmth of the American people and show the many adventures across the USA that are just one road trip away. • Brand USA also takes part in ITB Asia in Singapore, Southeast Asia’s foremost travel-trade exposition attracting representatives in leisure, corporate, and meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions travel. I encourage you to talk to our team about destinations in the USA, the opportunities we offer to enhance your marketing efforts in Southeast Asia, and how to inspire travelers in this collective market to book their trips to the USA now. I also invite you to review Brand USA’s dedicated travel-trade website. This comprehensive gateway allows industry professionals to easily navigate information about U.S. travel. Together, we are marketing the USA! Christopher L. Thompson President & CEO Brand USA MARKET INFORMATION 2019 7 Brand USA Executive & Senior Leadership Christopher L. Thompson Aaron Wodin-Schwartz President & CEO Vice President, Public Policy [email protected] & Public Affairs [email protected] Thomas Garzilli Chief Marketing Officer [email protected] Donald F. Richardson, CPA Chief Financial Officer [email protected] Karyn Gruenberg Senior Vice President, Partner Marketing & Strategic Alliances [email protected] Jake Conte Vice President, General Counsel [email protected] Cathleen Domanico Vice President, Global Trade Development [email protected] Tracy Lanza Vice President, Integrated Marketing [email protected] Joann Pelipesky